I'm in California this weekend celebrating our oldest daughter's college graduation! Please give a warm welcome to my wonderful reader friends Joy, Crissy, and Amy. They're here to provide insight on a question near and dear to an author's heart. What elevates a book to a reader's "keeper shelf"? -Becky What Causes Readers to Place a Book on Their Keeper Shelf: 1. The characters move off … [Read more...]

My husband began investing in real estate more than fifteen years ago in addition to working at his full-time job. His first purchase was the house across the street, which he renovated and flipped. He barely broke even. But he learned a lot. Over the years, he invested in more residential homes in our north Dallas neighborhood--flipping many, keeping a few as long-term rentals. He succeeded at … [Read more...]

I recently asked, "How old were you when you discovered your love of reading?" on my Facebook author page. I found the answers fascinating and heartwarming! For this post, I'm hitting on the themes I saw repeated again and again. First Grade This was the most common answer! For numerous women, learning to read went hand in hand with loving to read. "I learned to read in first grade. I … [Read more...]

I sent readers on a "blind date with a book" via a post at this time last year. I had so much fun that I'm back with another round! The general idea.... A library wraps books in paper and writes clues about the contents of the books on the front. You go on a blind date with a book by picking one, unwrapping it, taking it home with you, and reading it. :) Below, I've virtually "wrapped" eight … [Read more...]

I'm currently listening to Memory Lane's audiobook before I make it available! Here's the timeline of how this audiobook came to be... Mid-October - I emailed narrator Heather Masters to inquire if she'd be interested in narrating Memory Lane (slated to release mid-February). All of my prior novels were produced by Recorded Books after my publisher sold them the audiobook rights. I've only … [Read more...]